Starting motor for internal combustion engines



Aug. 29, 1933. F. PRICE 1,925,057

STARTING MOTOR FOR INTERI IAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed May 8, 1929 2 s eets-sheet 1 lily/2W7 flzderiapnaz Aug. 29, 1933. F. PRICE 1,925,057

STARTING MOTOR FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed May a. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 24 O 26 i F 44 FE flzaamia J n/lac,

J H m @6 9- Patented Aug. 29, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OF F l CE :STARTING MOTOR FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Frederick'lrice, Maud, kla., assignor of onehalf to George E. McKinnis, Jr., Shawnee, Okla.

Application May 8, 1929. Serial N0. 361,369

.2 Claims. (01. 6016) My invention relates in general to starting starter of .my invention and showing the main motors for internal combustion engines. It redetails thereof; lates more in particular to a starter of the type Fig. 3 is aplanzsectional view along the line employing a fluid such as compressed air. 33 of Fig. 2, but with some of the partsshown 5 In the commercial use of relatively large inin full lines better .to show the relative positions, 60

ternal combustionengines, for example inthe oil and fields for operating drilling equipment, the use of Fi 4 is a frag y Vertical Sectional View electrical starters of the type generally employed showinga preferred form of check valveas used with automobiles is entirely unsatisfactory. It in combination .with my: starter.

has been the custom under such conditions to I refer fi t h illustrates 65 start these motors by hand, or by means not ard form of motor including the cylinder block adapted for full automatic performance. Now in head manifold 12 all o f y locations such as pointed out there is usually an b base 3. The mOtOr is Shown as a four abundance of fluid under pressure such for ex- Cy d the p p ofxplainin l5 ample as compressed air, natural gas or the like, my invention as will appearhereinafter the firing 70 It is my purpose to employ such compressedfluid Order may be assumed-to'be f 1 1n the starting of internal combustion engines, The Starter A y lee/Connected in y Suitand to this end I have designed an improved air able manner a portion of the n in rom starter. I am aware that starters of this general Which p p timing can be Obtained and the character have been produced in the t, b t starter distributes the compressed fluid from a 75 none of such starters has beenfully satisfactory Su Sou (not Shown) through P p nor would any of-them suit my purpose. 17, .18 and 19 to the cylinders above the piston Accordingly one of the principal-objectsof my heads and at the firing stroke of the piston.

invention is to produce an improved starter of this T p p are arranged in a manner WhiehWill type. be brought out more fully hereinafter and each 530 Another object is to utilize the compressed fluids one is provided witha check valve mechanism B of the character set forth for starting relatively which will also be further described.

large internal combustion engines. Now vasto the starter proper this includes a Another object is the provision of a starter main framecasting 21-and ashell casting 22, the

t which may be connected to any general type of shell forminga housing for a pair of gears 23and motor, or which may be built asapart of any 24between which'a driving connection is formed. usual type of motor. The gear 24, being the driving gear, is keyed to a Another object is the provision of a starter shaft 26, this shaft 26 being connected to be which will automatically be rendered ineffective driven from the internal combustion engine. In 35 when the internal combustion engine starts firing. actual installations with which I have had very 5 0 In accomplishing the objects of my invention '1 goodresults I spline the shaft 26 to the cam connect the starter to be driven in any suitable motor timing shaft or cam shaft (notshown). manner by an engine part, for example-a timing .Theparticular arrangementofthe shell frame, or shaft or cam shaft, the starter functioning to discasing 22 is such as used with this installation, tribute the compressed fluid to the various cylinand .in'this case 'aniannular flange 27-is provided ders in firing order so that the fluid operates the forming a :part of the casing 22 and provided engine be Started. end-1S in turn p d by Withholes 2 8 for receiving-cap screws :29 (Fig. such engine to effect the proper timing. In the .1) which attach the starter to theinternal comsystem of valves employed to distribute the air bustionengine. 4.5 to the engine cylinders I avoid entirely the use of I With reference.now morefully to the partsof Sp D L D other devices of this Charthe starter the drivengear23is-keyed toamain acter which are readily thrown out of adjustment, u ri ht shaft 31 journaled in the main frame and ar p nsi to manufacture. castingZl by-suitable-bearings 32 and 33. At the Other objects and features of the invention will jo yqf th fe cam 34 is provided being m 50 appear from the following detailed description immovable with respect to the shaft by-a key 36,

taken with themp i r w wherein. .and supported against longitudinal :movement Fig. 1 is.a conventionalrepresentation of.an :betweennutsyiz'iand 38. Thecam 3.4 (See;Fjg internal combustion engine, with .the starter .of *3) functions to operate the fluid controlling my invention applied thereto; valves, .andithe'constructionof -the.valvesystem Fig.2 is a verticalsectional view through the ivillnowbemointed out. L

The upper part of the main frame casting 21 is enlarged to form a head 39 and has a continuous outer annular chamber 41 through which openings 42 communicate to the outside. Three of these openings are closed with plugs l3 while the remaining opening is adapted to receive pressure reducer .4 to which a pipe 4:6 is connected, the pipe 46 leading to a suitable source of fluid pressure (not shown).

Within the head 39 and distributed around the inside or the annular passageway 41 are a plurality of separate openings 47, 48, 49 and 51 into which air under pressure is adapted to be admitted in successive order as determined by the operation of the valve mechanism. A hole is formed directly through the walls of each one of these chambers for the insertion of cylindrical liners 52-52, in which valve plungers 53-53 are adapted to reciprocate and uncover a series of ports S e-54 which interconnect the annular chamber 41 and the various smaller chambers indicated by the characters 47 to 51. By forming a connection between the chambers 47, etc. and

the cylinders of the internal combustion engine air may be distributed to such cylinders in proper sequence to produce an operating effect. For bringing about this result openings 56-56 are provided. communicating with the respective chambers and the head is provided with bosses 5'7-57 through which the openings 56 extend, the

bosses being threaded for receiving the pipes 16 to 19 in proper order. Now with specific reference to the construction of the plungers 52, they include (Fig. 2) a plunger head 58 provided with packing rings 59 which are supported on the head by a follower 61, the follower 61 being secured to the head by a cap screw 62.

While with the starter properly adjusted no pressure fluid comes in contact with the center portion thereof, such center portion which is constructed open is provided with a plate 63, the plate being held in position by lugs 64 which are supported by machine screws 66 which extend into the body of the casting. Actually these screws extend into the web portion which separates the chambers 47, 48, etc. The main function of the plate 63 is to prevent the entrance of dirt into the starter, and to serve for the introduction of a lubricant which is brought therethrough by a pipe 6'? suitably threaded into a boss provided inthe center of the plate '63. By means of the oil introduced at this point the entire associated mechanism is continuously lubricated. Whatever lubricant might possibly escape past the plungers and be blowninto the engine cylinder can have no deleterious effect on the operation thereof.

A positive drive being obtained from the internal combustion engine to the distributor portion of the starter, when the starter is properly timed with the engine it will remain so timed.

For setting the timer the main frame casting 21 is rotatable on the shell casting 22 and may be turned with respect thereto to efiect proper timing. Set screws 69-69 are provided for preventing relative turning of these two portions of the frame after they have been'set.

Turning to Fig. 4 I show therein a portion of the top of a cylinder 71 in which a piston '72 is reciprocable. The cylinder head is provided with a passageway '73 threaded at the top to receive the check valve B of my invention. This mechanism is shown in the form of an L but it may of course have other forms. It includes a main frame portion comprising a straight'piece 74 and an L 76, a threaded connection being provided between these two members for assembling purposes. A seat insert '77 is included in the assembly and is held by the annular flange 78 formed on the inside of the L '76, and the end of the member '74. This seat insert is provided with a standard type of annular seat for receiving a poppet type of valve '79. The stem 79a is slidable in an annular centrally disposed opening in a web portion 77a of the member '77. This web has a series of openings 77b for the passage of the fluid under pressure. A spring 81 surrounds the valve stem 79a and bears against the web We at one end and a retaining washer 82 at the other end, this retaining washer being held in position in any suitable manner, in the present case by a pin 83. The lower end of the member 74 is narrowed to form a shank which is threaded for insertion into the opening 73 whereby the entire assembly is connected to the head of the cylinder.

Very great economy and simplicity is found in the manufacture and use of my invention over all other forms of starters of this general type with which I am familiar. It is preferably driven directly oil of the motor cam shaft which in a four cycle engine rotates at half the speed of the crank shaft and so a direct drive therefrom operates the distributor to effect a proper number of impulses in accordance with the engine firing. In other words at each firing stroke of each piston a blast of compressed fluid is projected against the top of the piston and drives the same downwardly in thesame way that an ignited charge would afiect it. When the compressed fluid is admitted to the starter the distributor is also in a position to supply pressure to a cylinder which is on the down stroke, so that all that is necessary is simply to admit the pressure air and the starter operates. While any sort of valve may be employed for this purpose I show a hand operated valve 84 (Fig. 1). The source of supply of the fluid pressure is not of prime importance in the present invention.

The construction of the distributor head will bereadily understood to be of great practical value in that the parts are very quickly changed or adjusted as might be necessary under various circumstances. To begin with to remove the entire distributor it is simply necessary to loosen the set screws 69 and pull the entire distributor upwardly. This of course assumes proper disposition of the piping before hand. If one of the plungers is not operating properly it is simply necessary to remove the adjacent plug 43, withdraw theplungers bodily, withdraw the liner 52 if necessary and replace with new parts. If an entirely new, change is not necessary any portion may be repaired or adjusted, as for instancenew packing rings can readily be appliedto the plungers. If the cam'34 is not operating smoothly the plate 63 can be'removed, the nut 38 taken off, and the cam readily replaced with a new cam without requiringa dismantling of any other'portion of the starter.

, In the arrangement of the check valves the spring 81 is regulated to have such tension as may be required in the proper operation of the poppet valve '79. The startingpressurewhich I employ is generally in the neighborhood of 100 to 150 pounds pressure and the pressure in the cylinder on firing is found greatly to exceed this pressure so that the valve will automatically be maintained in a closed position due to this unequal and offsettingpressure. This renders the starting fluid automatically ineffective. After air has been admitted to force a given piston downwardly and the source of pressure cut off from direct connection with such piston, a built up pressure of some magnitude will remain in the communicating pipe. In the subsequent operation of the piston, particularly on the suction stroke (assuming the existence of a four cycle engine) there will be a tendency for the valve '79 to be forced open by such residual pressure. Now I construct the spring 81 of such strength as to overcome this pressure so that the valve will be open at no time except when full starting pressure for which the device is designed is applied against the valve. I have shown a specific embodiment of my invention and described such embodiment in detail so that those skilled in the art may readily under stand the manufacture and operation thereof. I do not wish to restrict myself, however, to the particular features shown and described, the invention being limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by United States Letters Patent of the United States 1. An engine starting mechanism for the purpose described including a main frame casting, and an outer shell casting disposed partially around the main frame casting, means on the shell casting for securing the same to an engine block, a shaft disposed in the shell casting and adapted for connection to an engine shaft, a centrally disposed shaft journaled in the main frame casting, a gear connection between the two shafts for driving said centrally disposed shaft, a fluid distributor mechanism carried by the main frame casting, and means for adjusting and maintaining the relative positions of the shell casting and main frame casting for timing the distributor with reference to the engine.

2. An engine starting mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein the distributor includes a main pressure chamber communicating with a source of fluid pressure, a plurality of pressure receiving chambers one for each engine cylinder, a series of ports between the pressure receiving chamber, plungers normally serving to close said ports and means for moving the plungers to uncover the ports to the pressure receiving chambers in accordance with the timing of the engine. 0

FREDERICK PRICE. 

